Work vehicles, such as, material handling vehicles, usually have a cover which is pivotally movable in a single direction (forward or rearward) to uncover a compartment defined by the vehicle frame. The cover typically has a plurality of sides and a top surface member which encloses the compartment and isolates the vehicle operator from noise, heat and the like which is generated, for example, by the vehicle engine, battery, hydraulic pumps and motors, filters, and electrical system components and the like housed within the cover and the compartment. The sides of the cover are normally long enough in length to extend from the top surface member to the frame of the vehicle when in a compartment covering position. Because of the substantial length of the cover sides, the cover is unable to pivot an adequate distance to totally free the sides of the cover from overlapping at least a portion of the compartment. The amount of pivoting permitted is limited by various portions of the vehicle such as, the counterweight, overhead guard, steering column, and seat mounted on the cover. As a result, access to certain ones of the various components of the vehicle is obstructed making servicing quite difficult and time consuming.
Other material handling vehicles have a cover which consists of a lid which is pivotally connected to the frame of the vehicle and a cowl which is rigidly affixed to the vehicle frame by threaded fasteners and the like. With the cowl in place and surrounding a portion of the compartment, certain components located within the compartment are not readily accessible. Therefore, the cowl or at least a portion thereof must be removed prior to any servicing of the difficult to access components. This of course requires additional time and effort on the part of a mechanic servicing the vehicle and reduces the overall productivity of the mechanic and vehicle.
Frequently the compartment defined by the vehicle frame extends beyond the confines of the hood and to a location beneath a floorboard of the vehicle. Additional vehicle components requiring servicing such as, transmissions, filters and the like are often located within this area of the compartment. In order to gain access to this area the vehicle must be either elevated for service from beneath or the floorboard must be removed and/or moved from covering the compartment. This of course takes additional time and may not provide adequate access to the compartment due to the cowl being located closely adjacent one end of the floor member. Also, portions of the frame which extend between the sides of the vehicle and to which the cowl and floorboard is attached reduces the size of the compartment opening and further limits accessibility.
Due to the complexity in construction of prior enclosures, especially those having multiple pieces, assembly and disassembly requires a substantial amount of time which results in additional downtime of the vehicle. As a result vehicle operator and mechanic time is wasted. Often the manufacturing tolerances of the parts of the enclosure and the assembly sequence of the parts of the enclosure makes it difficult to reassemble the enclosure as intended. This results in an improperly assembled compartment which detracts from the appearance and does not fit-up properly. Thus, the sound deadening and heat rejection properties of the enclosure is reduced which interferes with vehicle operator performance.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.